Jonathon Green begins a new series looking at how English slang has treated those funny foreigners. First up, a crack at the Italians... Unlike the Spanish, the Dutch and the French, the Italians have never rejoiced in that ever-popular role; Britain’s National Enemy. There are doubtless reasons – no pre-20th century wars, perhaps – ... Read More...
Month: February 2012
Nige marks the anniversary of the death of Keats... It was on this day in 1821 that John Keats died in Rome, with Joseph Severn at his side. Rather than rehearse that heartbreaking scene, I'll mark the day with the last poem he completed, the finished version of which was in ... Read More...
An unusual musical collaboration, well worth a listen if you happen to be a fan of prog rock and/or jazz violin... French fiddler Stéphane Grappelli featured in my Unusual Jazz Instruments post the other week, and it has been brought to my attention that a tape of him jamming with Pink Floyd during ... Read More...
This week, the true story of how Rita got a visa to enter the United States of America... “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.” These famous lines from “The New Colossus” by Jewish-American poet Emma Lazarus are engraved on the ... Read More...
In this week's bulletin, Toby Ferris explores Norbiton's sympathy with non-existent but thinkable fauna... When Hanno the papal elephant died in 1516, Cardinal Ippolito d’Este tried to obtain the bones for his collection of naturalia. He failed. The animal was interred in the Belvedere under a memorial fresco painted by Raphael and with ... Read More...
'For the sake of thoroughness he proceeded to electrocute his genitals'... Elberry enters the world of the mad scientist... So the world never found out how savannah chimps would respond to the sight of a live leopard rolling down a hill towards them in a wire-mesh ball. This is the kind of ... Read More...
To mark the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens' birth, we're serialising The Pickwick Papers... Thanks to our friends at Naxos Audiobooks, we're exclusively serialising their abridged version of what is perhaps Dickens’ funniest work, The Pickwick Papers, read by Anton Lesser. Chapters 9 and 10 can be heard below. You can catch up on ... Read More...
Gaw ponders the attractions of the Big Event. Everyone knows that we philistine Brits only queue overnight for things like the Next Boxing Day sale, Centre Court Wimbledon tickets or squatting rights to a pavement stone with a view of the latest royal matching or despatching. So what's all this about ... Read More...
This week Mahlerman is contemplating the peace of the grave... Over 500 years ago in Flanders, or possibly France, Johannes Ockeghem notated the earliest extant Requiem Mass that contained two melodic threads woven together to make a satisfying, formalized whole - and polyphony had arrived in liturgical music. For hundreds of ... Read More...
On the second day of London Fashion Week, here’s an exclusive insight into the mythically glamorous world of the ready to wear fashion show: A How to get a ticket and what to expect Even if you've previously been to a designer's show, you’ll generally still have to re-apply each season - ... Read More...
